Historic England

The Butter or Market Cross in Castle Combe in Wiltshire

This particular Butter Cross dates from the 14th century and stands in the centre of Castle Combe, often called "the prettiest village in England." The Butter Cross was built when Castle Combe was given a licence to hold a weekly market and was where people came to buy butter and eggs.

I used to live quite close to this village and I have to agree it is very pretty and visitors love it. I don't like it so much because it feels as if it's been preserved in aspic. The little cottages were once lived in by relatively poor working people and might have qualified as rural slums at one time. Today, no ordinary working person could possibly afford to buy a cottage in this most desirable village. Now it is just a dormitory for people who work in London or other towns and cities. The streets are usually empty of people, apart from tourists, and there are no noticeable businesses there.

Other pretty Wiltshire villages have avoided this preserved in aspic appearance because they have a village store, maybe a petrol (gas) station, some 20th century houses and other signs that they aren't film sets.

In the picture below, you can see the post office in Luckington, near Malmesbury and not far from Castle Combe either. The post office is making use of an old building, probably 18th century or earlier.

Picture below: Copyright © Roger Cornfoot - Creative Commons License

Warwick Castle

First of all, the pronunciation of the town name is Wor-rick not War-wick. Warwick Castle was originally built in 1068 in wood and then rebuilt in stone in the following century. In 1088 it passed into the ownership of the Earls of Warwick - do you remember Warwick, the Kingmaker from Shakespeare's Richard III?

In the 14th century more work was done on the town side of the castle to strengthen it. By the time of the 17th century, England was peaceful enough for the grounds to be made into gardens. Since 1978, the castle has been owned by the Madame Tussauds Group and is open to visitors.

A Shopping Street in the City of Salisbury

We know that the building of Salisbury began in the 13th century when the monks decided to move the Cathedral from the nearby hill of Sarum to the plain below.

If you were walking past the stores pictured above, their frontages would give you no clue at all about their ages. Cross the road, as I did to take this photograph, and you can see some clues.

First of all, none of them look as if they were built after the Second World War. In fact, they aren't at all typical of 20th century British architecture. All, except the half timbered building on the left end, have sash windows (windows that go up and down) which is very typical of the 19th century although this style of window was still being used in the early 20th century. We can't trust the windows, though. People changed their windows to fit in with the current fashion.

Look at the white building on the extreme right. From its proportions and the style of its roof, my guess is that it is Georgian - early 19th century.

Now look at the three smaller buildings to the left of the white one. One of these has tiles on the walls of the upper floors which is a much earlier style than the 19th century. In fact, it is something seen on buildings as early as the 14th century. Its roofline is the lowest of all these structures. I would guess it is the oldest in the group.

Well, I've just done a Google search for this building to test my theory and I'm right. It dates to the 14th century. I really have done this AFTER writing the above paragraph. You can read about it by scrolling down the page on The Chough, Salisbury

The other two buildings to the left of the Chough are probably not as old, built perhaps 200 - 300 years later. The big mystery for me is the large half timbered building on the end. Is it a 19th century pastiche of Tudor architecture or is it the real thing? I'm not sure and I can't find it online. Next time I go to Salisbury I'll take a closer look.

Can you see the drain in the centre of this street?
Cheap Street, Frome, Somerset
Copyright © Nabokov - Creative Commons License

This kind of feature is a give-away that you are walking down a medieval street. Can you imagine how noxious that drain would have been once, especially when it overflowed?

Some of the buildings lining the street may date from when the street was first built or they may be replacements. Sometimes the frontages don't tell the whole story because property owners would have a facade put on their buildings to make them look more fashionable but the inside structure wasn't changed.